Saruman the White (Curunír Lán in Sindarin) was the first of his order of Wizards (or Istari) who came into Middle-earth as Emissaries of the Valar in the Third Age. He was the leader of the White Council. His name meant Man of skill.
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In appearance, Saruman was as an old man with black hair. At the end of the Third Age, his hair and beard had turned mostly white. He was tall, his face was long, and his eyes were deep and dark. He would appear in a white cloak, a habit he later changed into a cloak that changed colors as he moved.
He wasn't actually a Man, or even an Elf (as Men often suspected) but a Maiar clothed in flesh (see Origins below) - an Istar. As such he was immortal and extremely powerful, yet had limits on how and how far these powers could be expressed. His two most salient powers were his knowledge and his voice.
Knowledge of the "deep arts" (or magic, such as it is in Middle-earth) was of most interest to him, particularly when related to power - such as the Rings of Power and the far seeing Palantíri. He was also deeply learned in ancient lore regarding powerful kingdoms such as Númenor, Gondor and Moria.
His voice and speech were extremely convincing, more powerful than mere rhetoric. When he focused this power on a person or a group of people, he could sway their hearts, plant fears and sow lies as he pleased. According to the stature of the listener, this spell could last as long as the speech did, or it could take root in them and last forever.
Other powers include knowledge of machinery and chemistry, probably inseparable from explicit magic (for instance, the "blasting fire" employed by his Orc army in the battle of Helm's Deep, was probably some kind of explosive). Machinery and engines characterized both his fortified Isengard and his altered Shire. In this, he probably sought to emulate Sauron.
His science also extended to biological areas. He crossed Men and Orcs, breeding a new race of Orcs unafraid of daylight, the Uruk-hai. His human spies in Bree were said to have Orc blood. He also employed birds in his service, although this might also be attributed to Radagast the Brown, ordering them to report to Orthanc, Saruman's stronghold.
Being regarded as more powerful than Gandalf (at least before Gandalf's rebirth), it's fair to assume he would also wield explicit magic similar to Gandalf, such as artificial light, locking spells, creating fire, etc..
Saruman resembled Gandalf not only in appearance, but originally also somewhat in character, but unlike Gandalf Saruman was proud. He saw himself as the most powerful of the Istari, expressing clear contempt for Radagast the Brown. Saruman was no fool: he realized Gandalf's power, and eventually became to see him as an equal, and later as a superior, much to his distress. He began to get jealous of Gandalf, eventually convincing himself Gandalf must be scheming against him, to justify his own scheming against Gandalf and the rest of the White Council.
Saruman likely was true to his mission in the beginning, and actually believed in working to stop Sauron, but his pride and later arrogance turned him into a traitor of those same forces he had once worked for. Saruman's betrayal was not sudden, but slowly grew over time, until at last he had convinced himself that he could not have taken any other path, and that it was too late now to repent. This false belief kept him from taking his last chance at redemption, and because he must have realized this he only became more bitter, blaming Gandalf more than anyone else for his own downfall. In fact he only had himself to blame, but he refused to believe this.
The name given to him by Men, Saruman, is in the Westron language. In Tolkien's works, this language is (almost) never shown directly, but translated into English and Anglo-saxon forms. In this case, Tolkien used the Anglo-saxon root word searu which means "skill" or "cunning". The real Westron version of his name remains unknown.
His name among the Elves is Curunír, which is in Sindarin, a language Tolkien did not translate. It means "man of skill", and was often followed by Lán, which means "white". In Valinor, his name was Curumo, which is the Quenya version of the same name.
In Valinor, the land of the god-like Valar in the west, a council was called by Manwë. This was likely shortly after the defeat of Sauron by the Last Alliance. It was decided to send five emissaries to Middle Earth. These should be "mighty, peers of Sauron, yet forgo might, and clothe themselves in flesh" - Istari, or Wizards.
One of those who went was Curumo (later in Sindarin Curunír, or in Westron Saruman), a powerful Maia of Aulë (just as Sauron was). Maiar were angelic creatures of the same people as the Valar, only of lower order. Together, they were the Ainur, and existed before the Arda, the world, was created.
Saruman was one of those who volunteered, whereas the last one, Olórin (later Gandalf) was commanded by Manwë to go. Saruman's jealousy of Gandalf began even here, when Varda said of Gandalf, who went as the third Istari that he was "not the third".
Saruman arrived alone in a ship at Mithlond (the Grey Havens) in the west of Eriador around the year 1000 of the Third Age, and only Círdan knew his identity and his origin.
He went into the East of Middle Earth, as did the two Blue Wizards (Ithryn Luin). After one and a half millennia he returned to the west, just as Sauron's power was growing again in Dol Goldur.
In the year 2759 of the Third Age, Saruman settled in Isengard, abandoned by Gondor, with the permission of Gondor's ruling Steward. There he became important in the defense of the free lands of the west. In Isengard, he also found, to his peril, one of the remaining Palantíri, which he probably initially used benevolently.
Soon after this, the White Council formed, with Saruman as its leader. In 2850 TA Gandalf entered Dol Goldur and confirmed that the evil presence there was indeed Sauron returned. By Saruman's advice, the White Council decided against attacking Dol Goldur. At this council-meeting Gandalf (for the first time) revealed that he suspected that Saruman desired to possess the One Ring.
Saruman's real strategy behind forestalling the Council's attempt at Dol Goldur focused on permitting Sauron to continue building up his strength, so that the One Ring would reveal itself. At that point Saruman hoped to have sufficient strength to seize it first himself. He soon found that Sauron had more knowledge of the possible location of the One Ring than he expected, and in 2941 TA he joined with the White Council to drive Sauron out of Dol Goldur.
Sauron abandoned Dol Goldur and instead arose again and took up his reign in Mordor, declaring himself openly. In Mordor, he established contact with Saruman through the Palantir captured from Minas Ithil, now Minas Morgul. Saruman succumbed to Sauron's will: he now became in secret a subject of Mordor, although a reluctant one.
Saruman did not reveal his true intentions until Gandalf presented him with the discovery and location of the One Ring. He then stood forth as Saruman of Many Colors, and when Gandalf refused to join with him, he held him captive in Isengard. Gandalf later escaped, and so Saruman's treachery became known to the rest of the White Council.
At this point Saruman also betrayed his new master Sauron by lying to the Nazgûl, who were now searching for Baggins and the Shire. He pretended to have no knowledge about these things, but the Nazgûl later captured one of his Shire spies. Believing that he would find no pity from either quarter (a false assumption, as he was later offered pardon by Gandalf), Saruman now put all efforts into obtaining the One Ring for himself.
Not all of these efforts ever became clear, but they included sending spies to waylay Frodo Baggins on his flight from the the Shire, attacking Rohan outright (he had been satisfied by weakening it through infiltration up until then) and dispatching raiding parties on likely routes a company of the Ring might take to Gondor (one of these parties captured Peregrin Took and Meriadoc Brandybuck). Gandalf also suspected Saruman had found (and destroyed) the remains of Isildur, who had last worn the Ring before it had been lost.
Saruman's Shire network failed to capture Frodo Baggins, Gandalf rallied Rohan to victory, Eomer stopped his only partially successful raiding party and control of Isengard was lost to the Ents. Aware he was utterly defeated, Saruman briefly concidered repenting for his deeds, but at the last moment could not go through with it. He must have still had some hope he could somehow escape, and even that infinitely small chance was better than his certain humiliation at the hands of those he had tried to destroy. Saruman still made a final attempt to woo Théoden, the king of Rohan, and Gandalf to his cause but failed: his staff was broken and he was dismissed from the order of the Istari.
Saruman's plans likely failed because he, like Sauron, was forced to reveal his hand early by Gandalf's visit, and therefore he had little time to perfect his plans. It must have been during Gandalf's captivity in Orthanc that he began to build his army of Orcs, Dunlendings, and Uruk-Hai, since Gandalf came to an as yet undestroyed Isengard. One can speculate that if matters had developed a little slower, his puppet Wormtongue would have gained full control over Rohan, and the Rohirrim would have been enslaved or destroyed.
Left out of the final stages of the War of the Ring, eventually he managed to convince his captors, the Ents, into letting him leave Isengard, proving that the magic of his voice still remained. He then went to the Shire, which his agents (undisturbed by events elsewhere) had brought under control. Spending his final days as a small-time thug lord in Hobbiton known as Sharky, he was eventually betrayed and killed by his own slave Grima Wormtongue, when even this operation fell apart.
Saruman, as a Maia, did not truly die, but his spirit lost its shape (much like Sauron's after the downfall of Numenor and after his defeat by the Last Alliance). As a discorporated spirit he would have been called to Mandos, but the tale implies that he refused the summoning, and we can speculate that his spirit was left naked and wandering in Middle Earth (perhaps like Sauron's after the One Ring was destroyed), ever diminishing over time until naught of him was left.
Tolkien writes of Saruman that "he went mostly among men". He always sought power, and in the Third Age the greatest power lay in the hands of the kingdoms of Men.
No records speak of his earliest journeys into the east of Middle-earth, but when he returned, he actually became for a while a servant of Gondor, receiving the keys to Orthanc from Beren (Steward of Gondor), as its warden.
Saruman later claimed Orthanc for his own, without any formal declaration (or real objection from a weakened Gondor). Still, he nominally remained an ally of Gondor and of Rohan. Throughout this time he also made long studies of scrolls and books in Minas Tirith.
When he turned to treachery, Saruman still employed men in his schemes, mainly from Dunland, but also selected agents from other lands (such as Gríma Wormtongue of Rohan). Saruman was a master of deceit, and could easily turn old grudges into fuel for new hatred.
The Dunlendings found employment in his armies, and it also seems probable that he used some of these men in his crossbreeding program to create Half-Orcs. The Dunlendings were enticed with the old stories that they had once lived in the plains of Rohan before the Strawheads had come from the north, and that their leader Freca, a man with claims to the throne of Rohan, had been killed by Helm Hammerhand.
Gríma Wormtongue played a vital rôle in Saruman's plans: a counsellor of the aging king Théoden, he secretly desired the king's niece, Éowyn, but she was repulsed by him and scorned his advances. It is not clear if Gríma approached Saruman or vice versa, but certain is that with Saruman's council Gríma began to weaken the king, estranging him from his other councellors and even his own kin, until Gríma had in effect almost become the leader of Rohan.
Saruman was once on good terms with the Elves, and was voted in as the leader of the White Council, a group of Elves and Istari united against Sauron.
However, Saruman knew that Gandalf had been given the third elvish ring Narya by Círdan the Shipwright. This nurtured his jealousy of Gandalf and his resentment towards the Elves.
The Elves also declined during the period of Saruman's activity in the west of Middle-earth. Their lands were few and secretive, and although they wielded in some senses marvellous power, they were not in the habit of projecting power in the manner Saruman found useful or interesting. Also, they succumbed less easily than other races to manipulation .
Even though his stronghold of Isengard lay very close to the Elven kingdom of Lothlórien, Saruman had very little or no contact with it. Indeed, after his treachery and ruin, Saruman stated clearly that he had never trusted Galadriel and that he suspected her of scheming for Gandalf at his expense.
In summary, Saruman had little use for, or interest in, the Elves.
Saruman grudgingly brought with him Radagast as a companion from Valinor, at the request of Yvanna, yet still managed to arrive alone, and first. Shortly after, he went into the East with the two Blue Wizards (Alatar and Pallando), and later returned alone. These two wizards supposedly failed in their mission, and became corrupted. Their fate may possibly relate in some way relate to Saruman's treachery (as a contributing factor, or as a result) .
The Blue Wizards were originally Maiar of Oromë, so they and Saruman likely had different motivations for travelling far inland.
Radagast, even though Saruman scorned him (when he tried to convert Gandalf to his cause), served Saruman very usefully. Not only in the sense explained to Gandalf, "he had just the wit to play the part I set him" - that of persuading Gandalf to come to Isengard. But also because Radagast provided Saruman with invaluable intelligence from animal spies.
Saruman had always felt jealousy towards Gandalf, and suspected him of keeping secrets from him - not unfounded suspicions, since Gandalf did indeed keep his knowledge (or early on, suspicion) about Bilbo's Ring hidden. Gandalf also kept his own ring (the third of the Elvish rings) Narya secret.
Gandalf also suspected Saruman of plotting to gain the One Ring for himself, and hinted at this in a powerful scene at a meeting of the White Council. Gandalf blew nine small smoke rings and one great one, and made as if to grasp them, whereupon they vanished.
In general, Saruman must have viewed Gandalf as his only peer, and as such to be feared and treated with (although not necessarily shown) respect. He always kept a watchful eye open for Gandalf's doings, and actually picked up the habit of smoking pipe-weed by sending out spies tailing Gandalf to the Shire.
When matters came to a head, Saruman sought to make Gandalf an ally in his plans. This was probably not just out of practical politics, but also of respect and a sense of companionship and shared destiny. And possibly out of hope, being daunted by the proposition of becoming Sauron's servant alone.
Nevertheless, Saruman exercised more power than Gandalf, even with the ring Narya, as became clear when he placed Gandalf under arrest at the pinnacle of Orthanc. The text does not make it clear whether Saruman lost power or whether Gandalf gained power, but when Gandalf returned as "Gandalf the White", he could summon Saruman at his will, forcibly keep him in his presence, and finally break Saruman's staff (with whatever implications that might have had for Saruman's powers).
Saruman several times came very close to setting aside his pride and to asking Gandalf for pity and help. The closest call came when the Ringwraiths (on their way to The Shire) arrived at Isengard while Gandalf still remained in captivity there. Saruman, realizing his predicament, actually went to seek Gandalf's pardon, only to find his erstwhile captive missing from the top of Orthanc.
The microcosm of the Istari society reflects how Saruman treated people in general - by manipulation and deceit, with fear and suspicion, and by ignoring those he had no use for.
Saruman probably drew his original strength of Orcs from tribes in the Misty Mountains, and perhaps from Moria Orcs. He made use of Warg-mounted Orcs of the same kind that Bilbo and the dwarves fled from after they had been captured at the High Pass near Rivendell.
He also bred Orcs in Isengard, eventually creating crossbreeds of Orcs and Men (probably Dunlendings), the Uruk-hai. This program apparently also involved feeding these Orcs Man-flesh.
His Uruk-Hai army displayed great discipline and fierce loyalty, in addition to the other improvements such as height, strength, endurance and resistance to sunlight. There also appears to have been middle stages between Men and the Uruk-Hai, Men with varying degrees of Orkish appearance. These were reported by Pippin and Merry to have been part of Saruman's regular army, but were not Uruk-Hai, since the hobbits would have recongnized these from their earlier capture.
Saruman's servants called him "Sharkey" both in Isengard and later in The Shire. This was probably an adaptation of the Black Speech word sharku which meant "old man". Saruman was not aware of this meaning (which is remarkable, since Gandalf knew this language). Perhaps he took it as a distortion of his own name by the Orcs. This indicates that the Orcs took their leader less seriously than they might have given him the impression of (similar to how the Mordor Orcs overheard by Sam and Frodo tended to disrespect their authorities).
Saruman made contact with the Ents in the forest of Fangorn shortly after he settled in Isengard. The oldest of the Ents, Treebeard received him and gave him free access to the forest.
Saruman also consulted with Treebeard, learning much old lore that the Ents would have remembered from ancient times. Saruman did not return this favour, but only listened.
The Ents saw Saruman's treachery early, and became very concerned, primarily with Saruman's Orcs felling trees on the edge of Fangorn for use in the furnaces of Isengard - or sometimes for no reason at all.
The Ents also appear to have had a sense of order, how things should be, that Saruman encroached upon. The crossbreeding of Men and Orcs particularly alarmed them, out of proportion to other concerns enemies of Saruman might have had. Also alarming was the pure fact of his treachery - the Istari were supposed to have a special responsibility.
Saruman used the Ents and the Fangorn forest without concern for the consequences. He clearly misjudged the Ents' abilities and will to act. This might not have been as incautious as it seemed, since major contributing factors to the Ent's actions were advice and requests from Gandalf, and concern about the rising power of Sauron (and their wish to support the front-line troops of the war, Rohan and Gondor).
Saruman clearly had the ability to understand the minds of the Ents when he found it useful. He managed to talk Treebeard into setting him free from Orthanc by pushing just the right buttons - Ents dislike the concept of caging up any creature.
The race of Hobbits and their lands seemed too insignificant to interest Saruman: until he took notice of Gandalf's special concern for them.
His secret interest in Gandalf's doings made him focus gradually more and more on the Hobbits and The Shire. For a period he actually travelled there in secret, mapping out the lands. Gandalf was aware of this, but at this point only amused.
He began smoking pipe-weed (a habit of the Hobbits that Gandalf had picked up), also in secret. His demand for tobacco opened up trading between The Shire and Isengard, and the power his money could wield there and the corruption it could cause began to fascinate him. Some of his agents went in secret, and some were known to Gandalf and the Rangers (who accepted them, but were suspicious).
His anger towards the Hobbits may possibly stem from the attention Gandalf showed them (and not himself, or his projects). It certainly strengthened immensely when he discovered that the Hobbits (to his mind) had conspired with Gandalf to keep the One Ring from him.
This, and the sudden urgency caused by the Ringwraiths' hunt for the ringbearer from The Shire to Rivendell, made him increase his activity in the area, leading to a buildup of power that would by the closing of the War of the Ring lead to virtual conquest of The Shire.
He might also later have blamed the ruin of Isengard at the hands (or branches, really) of the Ents on Peregrin Took and Meriadoc Brandybuck, who clearly catalyzed events.
This all came together after Sauron's fall, when Saruman escaped from the Ents and retired to The Shire and his thug regime in place there. It appears he immediately switched the focus of this operation to wanton destruction: pollution, murder, fire, chopping down trees for no reason. He may have felt this would also allow him to deal a last blow to Gandalf.
At his final utter defeat by a Hobbit uprising, his life was spared even when he tried to assassinate Frodo Baggins. At this moment he actually conceded respect to Frodo, but it was (literally) short-lived.Characteristics
Origins
History
Politics
Men
Elves
Istari/Wizards
Orcs
Ents/Trees
Hobbits